WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was a record-setting afternoon for Post University Men's Lacrosse as the Eagles got back to their winning ways with a 24-5 road victory over the University of the District of Columbia on Tuesday afternoon. Junior attacker Leighton Cooke had his fifth straight game with a hat trick after scoring six times and adding one assist for a seven-point outing in a game that saw Post record top-five performances for a single game in six different categories. 

THE BASICS

Post University 24, University of the District of Columbia 5

Post University (3-3)

University of the District of Columbia (0-6)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Freshman midfielder Charlie Foster helped aid the Eagles to one of those records in the faceoff dot as his 15 wins combined with five from Cooke and one from senior long-stick midfielder James Sproul, gave Post 21 faceoff wins today which were the fourth-most in the program's history for a game. Sproul and Foster also helped lead the way to another record-breaking mark for the Eagles with the former picking up a team-high nine ground balls and the latter snagging eight en route to the team's 58 ground balls which were the second-most for a single game. 

Three was the magic number for freshman midfielder Van George who had three goals and three assists for six points to go along with his three caused turnovers which tied Sproul for the lead in that category for the game. The duo was responsible for helping the Eagles record a program record 21 caused turnovers today, surpassing their record-breaking mark last year of 20 caused turnovers at home against Holy Family University. 

While Cooke's stellar afternoon gave him a total of seven points and George's led to six points, 13 different players for Post tallied at least one point to help push the team's total to 38 points, thus resulting in the third-most team points for a single game in the history of the program, only two away from tying the program record of 40 points set against both Holy Family and Caldwell University last year. Rounding out the team records were the goal-scoring efforts that led to 24 total goals, marking the fourth time in program history that the Eagles have reached that mark in a game. 

Junior attacker Ryan Denike made some personal history of his own after scoring in the first quarter, becoming the sixth player in program history to join the 100 Point Club as part of his one-goal, two-assist day. Freshman goalie Aiden Waller picked up his first collegiate win in net for the Eagles after playing just 45 minutes, making seven saves and allowing only three goals before being lifted for the fourth quarter for sophomore goalie Dominick Zichelli. Zichelli made one save on three shots in his Post debut, seeing action for the first time this season between the pipes.

Freshman midfielder Connor Denny tallied two goals and his first collegiate assists while fellow freshman midfielder Wil Godbout earned his first collegiate goal and assist in the win. Among other first-timers were sophomore attacker Tomasz Simeunovic, sophomore midfielder Rob Terelli, and freshman midfielder Zane Parenteau with their first collegiate goals while sophomore defender Nick Gallery had his first collegiate assist in the 24-5 win. 

For the University of the District of Columbia, senior midfielder Jordan Schemm and senior attacker Dylan Donaldson each had two goals to lead the Firebirds while Jordan Schemm also added an assist. Senior attacker Julian Schemm scored the only other goal for the District of Columbia and freshman goalie Israel Amajioyi took the loss after allowing 24 goals and making 11 saves. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• As a team today, Post University tied the program record for goals in a game with 24, the fourth-most team assists in a game with 14, third-most team points with 38, second-most ground balls with 58, fourth-most faceoff wins with 21, and most caused turnovers in a game in program history with 21
• Robbie McGrayne scored four points today and now sits at 191 career points which is just 12 points away from Dylan Heald's (2021-24) all-time point record at 202 points 
• Ryan Denike became the sixth member of the program's 100 Point Club after scoring a goal in the first quarter while also adding two assists, giving him 102 points in his career
• Recording four points today, Hunter McCarty continues his pursuit of 200 career points and now sits at 169 career points following the game 
• Currently on pace to break another record, Robbie McGrayne needs to play in at least four more games this season for Post University to become the all-time leader in career games played by three different players in Jack Kearney, Frank Nichols Jr., and Peter Naboka with 55 games played each 

WHO'S NEXT
Post University starts off conference play this weekend with a matchup against Holy Family University at 12:00 PM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Last season marked the first time the two teams faced off against each other in what was the inaugural season for the Tigers as a Men's Lacrosse program with the Eagles coming out on top, 23-3, at home.